


They were

by bloodandcream



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cuddling, M/M, general fluffiness, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 13:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1859526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodandcream/pseuds/bloodandcream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But sometimes, they can remember being small.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They were

When the sky is clear, they pull over and look at the stars.

A lull, between hunts, no angel’s on their trail as far as they can tell. Driving through Wyoming, flat lands and endless stretches of sky. The stars are always nice here, in the middle of the country up towards the top, away from cities, away from people, away from everything.

Dean had stocked the cooler with ice and beer the last gas stop he made. Sam had seen him, a small smile twitching on the corners of his lips.

There’s no street lights on these back roads, no high beams on the Impala. It’s just a narrow tunnel of light in front of him, white dotted line blinking and blurring, expanses of dark fields to either side. The sky is clear, deep blue bruise too bright with stars and moons to be black. The moon is at the midpoint, hanging heavy and full.

Dean finds a pull off, hardly anything but a little bit of a wider shoulder, worn pavement giving way to gravel and dirt. Neither brother says anything, swings open car doors and hauls the cooler to the front. Both lean back against the grill and pop open a beer, the hood still hot from driving. Sam crosses one ankle over another, managing to hunch his shoulders as he cranes his neck back to look at the stars. Dean looks at his brother, then he looks up, tilting back his beer.

The night is chilly but still, no breeze to push the cold into their bones. After some time has passed Dean hops up and scoots back to rest on the hood, and Sam follows suit. Setting the empties back in the cooler and fetching two more, legs splayed over warm metal, leaning back on one hand, they watch the stars.

There was a time when the vast sprawl of the night sky over empty fields could make them feel small, make them feel insignificant. A time when the hugeness of existence could swallow them whole, but it felt safe, like being wrapped in a blanket. It felt like there was too much to comprehend, so it was okay to just sit back and watch, to marvel at it.

Anymore, they realize they’re not so insignificant after all. Whether they ever wanted to be huge or not, there’s no avoiding it. They have no where to run, no refuge to seek in all the vastness. As alone as they are in the single moment sprawled on a car hood under the night sky, they are sought after. It feels like the whole world is shrinking.

But sometimes, they can remember being small.

Setting the empties back and getting a new beer, both brothers shift further back on the car hood, legs stretched out, backs rested against the glass, heads tilted and lolling. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful.

Sam reaches for his brother’s hand, covers it with his own. After a pause, fingers splay so he can slot between, wrist twists, palm to palm, fingers curling.

Dean holds his brother’s hand and maps the stars above him. He never learned the constellations that other people had made up, he just made up his own. The beer is cold in one hand, and Sam is warm in the other. He doesn’t look but he can feel his brother shift, closer, and both their beers are empty so he disentangles. Takes Sam’s empty and slips down the hood to drop them in the cooler. Pushing back up the still warm metal, he stretches his arms up above his head.

Hands free, Dean’s long lean body reaching up, Sam slots into the space. Folds himself into a curl and lays his head on Dean’s chest. An arm falls down around his shoulder, warm weight, comforting. Holding his hands near his chest he waits. Fingers slip into his hair, and he squirms closer, pressing his face into the warm cotton. Sweat and laundry detergent, gasoline and salt. It smells like familiarity. Dean brushes the long hair off his forehead and Sam loosens. Pressing up closer, one arm reaches over his brother’s stomach and settles on a hip, fingers dipping under the hem of his shirt.

Dean folds one arm up under his head to cradle it while the other falls around Sam’s shoulder. His eyes are still fixed on the stars but the rest of his being strains towards his brother. Fingers twisting through soft hair, doesn’t matter how many times he tells Sam he needs to cut it, they both know that won’t happen. There’s fingers brushing up against his stomach, a broad palm. He breathes easier, not feeling as small as he used to but not feeling so large. There’s no responsibility here, no duty.

There are too many good memories of days long gone to be thinking about immediacy when they’re under the stars. He remembers fields lit up with fireworks and Sam’s smile. Skinny dipping in forgotten ponds overgrown with weeds at the edges and Sam shooting up tall like a weed. Purloined popsicles dripping sticky down chins sitting in the shade of a cinder block motel playing tic tac toe in the dirt. He remembers when they used to sit just like this under the stars and they used to feel small.

Sam’s hand slowly pushes up under his shirt, palm splayed over sternum. Dean brushes his hand down Sam’s side, curling over ribs. His brother spread out over the beat of his heart. Dean spread out over the breath in Sam’s lungs. Reminds them that they were alive. That they were whole. That they were together.

Dean squeezes and rubs down the slope of Sam’s side. Sam scoots closer, pressing the length of his body against Dean. Feet sticking out over the edge of the car. The warmth of her still seeping up through denim. But Dean is hotter against him where their bodies are pressed together. Just holding, and watching the stars.

They may not be small anymore. There were too many other things they had to be. They were hunters. They were vessels. They were both saved and damned. But they were also brothers. They were destiny defiers. They were Sam and Dean.


End file.
